Dallas Companion Animal Project Plan Gets Approval to Make Dallas a No-kill Community

The City of Dallas now has an official plan to become a no-kill community and end the needless euthanasia of shelter dogs and cats.

Monday, Jan. 23, the Quality of Life and Government Services Committee of the Dallas City Council unanimously voted to support the proposal presented by the Dallas Companion Animal Project (Dallas CAP), the City’s task force assigned with creating a plan. The plan was presented to the Quality of Life Committee after being unanimously approved by the Animal Shelter Commission on Jan. 12.

Members of the Dallas CAP task force, all leaders in Dallas’ animal welfare community, were appointed in July 2011. The task force spent the last five months researching other no-kill communities around the country and identifying existing and potential resources in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. They created a website (www.DallasCompanionAnimalProject.com) and Facebook page, solicited public input, reviewed hundreds of suggestions, and identified hundreds of successful programs and initiatives.

The task force developed a plan that (1) encompasses programs and initiatives already in place and identifies resources that are still needed, (2) is customized to serve the needs of Dallas and its citizens, and (3) focuses predominantly on the private sector.

The final plan includes six major initiatives:

Awareness and Education – Develop an aggressive public awareness campaign with support, in part, from Dallas’ world-class business, sports and entertainment industries and seeking educational program support from local, regional and national education resources.

Feral and Community Cats – Continue to grow the partnership with local cat-advocacy groups

Fundraising – Work with the SPCA of Texas and other local animal-welfare groups to obtain a Maddie’s Fund ® Community Collaborative grant, and continue reaching out to local donors and foundations.

“Funding will be one of the keys to our success,” said Rebecca Poling, Dallas CAP chair, “but the potential for a Maddie’s Fund ® Community Collaborative grant is enormous.” Current Maddie’s Fund ® programs include $5 million over five years for Erie County, NY; $5 million over seven years for Mobile, AL; and $26 million over seven years for New York City.

“We’ll also need continued community support in creating grass-roots awareness and raising community standards and expectations,” added Poling. “This is a major component of the plan and will also be an important key to our success.”

The next steps for the task force are to develop a detailed one-year business plan and a multi-year strategic plan; finish prioritizing initiatives; begin implementing programs; and identify the costs and funding options. In years two through four, Dallas CAP will continue to implement, expand and build momentum. And in year five, if all of the major initiatives have been successfully implemented, the City of Dallas could be one of the largest no-kill communities in the country.

In India I have adopted 20 stray dogs and a cat- i take care of their food, vaccination, medication, hospitalisation. ..Its hard to digest that a dog be killed if he becomes homeless. More so in a country like USA. To me euthanising dogs is akin to suggesting that humans who are too old(ie unhealthy) or jobless ( homeless) be picked up by ‘People Control’ taken to shelters and killed:(… I fervently hope your community will find a way to discontinue this practice.